diff --git a/src/node_modules.cc b/src/node_modules.cc
index 4b522a91323c9f..7c1ef73c9445cc 100644
--- a/src/node_modules.cc
+++ b/src/node_modules.cc
@@ -340,12 +340,14 @@ void BindingData::GetNearestParentPackageJSON(
   ToNamespacedPath(realm->env(), &path_value);
 
   std::string path_value_str = path_value.ToString();
+  auto path_value_u8str =
+      std::u8string(path_value_str.begin(), path_value_str.end());
   if (slashCheck) {
-    path_value_str.push_back(kPathSeparator);
+    path_value_u8str.push_back(kPathSeparator);
   }
 
   auto package_json =
-      TraverseParent(realm, std::filesystem::path(path_value_str));
+      TraverseParent(realm, std::filesystem::path(path_value_u8str));
 
   if (package_json != nullptr) {
     args.GetReturnValue().Set(package_json->Serialize(realm));
@@ -366,12 +368,14 @@ void BindingData::GetNearestParentPackageJSONType(
   ToNamespacedPath(realm->env(), &path_value);
 
   std::string path_value_str = path_value.ToString();
+  auto path_value_u8str =
+      std::u8string(path_value_str.begin(), path_value_str.end());
   if (slashCheck) {
-    path_value_str.push_back(kPathSeparator);
+    path_value_u8str.push_back(kPathSeparator);
   }
 
   auto package_json =
-      TraverseParent(realm, std::filesystem::path(path_value_str));
+      TraverseParent(realm, std::filesystem::path(path_value_u8str));
 
   if (package_json == nullptr) {
     return;